Youth Fishing Camp Teaches Eco-Fishing Skills

Mahogany Outdoors, a youth fishing camp in south Florida, will provide 10 weeks of camp this summer to teach kids how to enjoy fishing and be good stewards of the environment at the same time. What a great program. There should be hundreds of these camps across the country each year.

The term "Eco-Fishing" is relatively new, but I think it will catch on quickly. Eco-Fishing combines fishing with good environmental stewardship. It means practicing mostly catch and release, keeping no more than two fish per fisherman regardless of legal limits. It means never throwing old fishing line, soft plastics, or anything else into the habitat that is not natural to it. A good rule of thumb is what comes with you leaves with you. It means removing hooks carefully using dehookers and other tools to minimize harming the fish. It also means returning a fish into the water as quickly as possible and not handling a fish with your hands which damages its outer coating. These principles and much more are what is meant by eco-fishing.

Learn more about Mahogany Outdoors and their eco-fishing camps by clicking on the link. This is a topic you'll be hearing much more about from me in the future.